(R)evolution interrupted? : a collective reflection on equality and anti-discrimination law in a climate of regression

Štajnpihler Božič, Tilen (author)

The article reassesses the trajectory of European anti-discrimination law from the "revolution" of 2000 - marked by the EU Racial Equality and Employment Equality Directives - to the more sobering climate surrounding their 25th anniversary in 2025. While the Directives broadened protection and introduced potent enforcement tools (including burden-of-proof rules and requirements for effective sanctions), the momentum of EU equality law has largely stalled. The clearest symbol is the Horizontal Directive proposal, blocked in the Council since 2008, alongside only modest and often consolidating developments in EU secondary law, mostly in the gender field. The author, therefore, asks how anti-discrimination law can be advanced in a political and social landscape increasingly different from the one that enabled the 2000–2004 expansion. Drawing on collective reflection at the 12th Annual Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law Conference in Ljubljana (2025), the author distils three interlinked themes. First, he maps contemporary challenges: entrenched discriminatory attitudes, institutional bias, weak enforcement marked by political and judicial obstacles, data deficits, and the practical difficulty of addressing intersectional and algorithmic discrimination. Second, he outlines possible responses that build on a dual strategy of defence and adaptation: the principle of non-regression o human rights standards as a shield against rollback, alongside equality mainstreaming, strategic litigation, and complementary policy tools that may bypass legislative dead-lock. Third, he highlights the importance of inspiration as a professional and civic resource, emphasising professional responsibility, coalition-building beyond the juridical field, and persistence amid setbacks.

• Language: English
• Keywords: anti-discrimination law, EU non-discrimination law, equality, diversity, inclusion
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.03 - Other scientific articles
• Organization: PF - Faculty of Law
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 30.12.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 125-134, 261-262
• Numbering: Letn. 85
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-180333
• UDC: 340.1:342.722:061.1EU
• ISSN on article: 1854-3839
• DOI: 10.51940/2025.1.125-134
• COBISS.SI-ID: 270249475
• Publication date in RUL: 06.03.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Zbornik znanstvenih razprav
• Shortened title: Zb. znan. razpr.
• Publisher: Pravna fakulteta
• ISSN: 1854-3839
• COBISS.SI-ID: 223437312

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: (Re)volucija prekinjena? : kolektivni razmislek o pravu enakosti in protidiskriminacijskem pravu v ozračju regresije

Abstract

Prispevek strnjeno ovrednoti razvoj evropskega protidiskriminacijskega prava od "revolucije" leta 2000, ki sta jo zaznamovali Direktiva EU o rasni enakosti in Direktiva o enakem obravnavanju pri zaposlovanju, do precej treznejšega ozračja ob njuni 25. obletnici leta 2025. Čeprav sta direktivi razširili varstvo in uvedli učinkovita izvršilna orodja (vključno s pravili o dokaznem bremenu in zahtevami po učinkovitih sankcijah), je zagon prava enakosti EU večinoma zastal. Najjasnejši simbol tega je predlog tako imenovane horizontalne direktive, ki je v Svetu blokiran od leta 2008, ob tem pa so bile nadaljnje spremembe sekundarnega prava EU le skromne in pogosto predvsem konsolidacijske, večinoma na področju spola. Avtor zato postavlja vprašanje, kako je mogoče protidiskriminacijsko pravo razvijati v političnem in družbenem okolju, ki je čedalje bolj drugačno od tistega, ki je omogočilo širitev v letih 2000–2004. Na podlagi kolektivnega premisleka na 12. letni konferenci Berkeleyjevega centra za primerjalno pravo enakosti in protidiskriminacije v Ljubljani (2025) avtor izlušči tri med seboj povezane teme. Prvič, oriše sodobne izzive: ukoreninjena diskriminatorna stališča, institucionalne pristranskosti, šibko izvrševanje, zaznamovano s političnimi in sodnimi preprekami, primanjkljaje podatkov ter praktične težave pri naslavljanju presečne in algoritmične diskriminacije, k čemur se zdaj pridružuje še vse izrazitejši odpor, ki izpodbija samo legitimnost varstva pred diskriminacijo. Drugič, nakaže možne odzive, ki so osnovani na dvojni strategiji obrambe in prilagajanja: načelo prepovedi regresije standardov človekovih pravic kot ščit pred nazadovanjem. Tretjič, poudari pomembnost navdiha kot vira strokovnega in državljanskega angažmaja, pri čemer izpostavi poklicno odgovornost, iskanje koalicij onkraj pravnega polja ter vztrajnost kljub neuspehom.

• Keywords: pravo varstva pred diskriminacijo, protidiskriminacijsko pravo EU, enakost, raznolikost, vključenost